Full details and photographs of Bolshoi chief Sergei Filin’s burns treatment are published today on Russia’s Life-News citing an unnamed but apparently authoritative source within the Moscow medical team who first treated the attacked man.

Pictured above: Filin’s eyelids were sewn closed for almost all his time in a Moscow clinic (photo Life-News)

While Filin has been in Germany for nearly three months, this story states that it was the first days of Russian treatment that did remarkable work in ensuring a rapid recovery for his burned face - and the pictures in the article attest to this in detail.

However, the source says, the Russians could do nothing about Filin’s eyes which were severely damaged. His eyelids were sewn together for most of his three weeks in Moscow, to help protect the eyes while doctors got on with applying cell renewal treatments to his skin. On his discharge from the Moscow hospital, facing a battery of world press in dark glasses and a knitted hat over his bandages, says this doctor, Filin was virtually totally blind.

The Life-News source describes as shameful the campaign by supporters of the alleged attackers to cast doubt on the extent of injury to Filin. Today’s report will certainly contradict the conspiracy theorists.

It will also help to restore Russian pride in its medical facilities, pride which was bruised when the injured man was sent to Germany - with full support from the Ministry of Health and the Bolshoi Theatre - for specialist attention after the initial emergency treatment. (One of the side-effects of this appalling incident has been much comment by Russians decrying their country’s medical provision in general, in comparison with European expertise.)

Burn surgeons applied jeweller's work to restore the appearance of the injured artistic director of the Bolshoi Ballet.

Life-News has been given the details of the treatment of the 42-year-old head of the Bolshoi ballet troupe Sergei Filin, whom hired criminals attacked on 17 January near his home in the capital.

Burns surgeons have performed a series of operations and almost completely restored Sergei Filin's former facial appearance (Filin, right, before the attack).

On 4 February Filin appeared in public for the first time after the attack when he was discharged from the [Moscow] Metropolitan Hospital wearing dark glasses to cover his eyes. The unhealed burns were covered by bandaging and a knitted cap.

Questioned the injuries

Many then were surprised that the dance chief, despite being drenched with sulphuric acid, showed practically no visible wounds.

And soon, after the arrest of three suspects in the attack on Filin, the lawyers involved in the case questioned whether that artist had in reality received serious injuries, and whether the investigators were right to bring a criminal case under article 111 of the Criminal Code for "Intentional infliction of serious damage to the health."

One of the criteria for establishing such severe injury, according to the Criminal Code article, could be "irreparable disfigurement of the face." Filin appears to look fairly presentable.

However, only the physicians who achieved this effect know what the artistic director has had to undergo to get there.

"On one hand they have been trying to save his eyesight, which, by the way, has not been successful," a source close to Filin told Life-News. "Starting from 18 January, effectively for all the time that he spent in a Moscow hospital, Sergei Yurievich was totally blind! They quite literally stitched up his eyelids. This was done in order to restore the damaged corneas.

“At the same time surgeons were taking all necessary steps to prevent visible effects of burns on the skin."

Four-stage skin rescue

Filin's appearance was saved by the medical team in four stages. On 18 January he was given a preliminary burns treatment, and on day four the doctors began to restore the skin.

"Surgeons carefully removed the pieces of dead skin," Life-News was told about the operation by a specialist with 15 years experience, who wished to remain anonymous. "The deepest of the burns was just behind the right ear - this is due to the fact that at the time of the attack Filin was holding his phone to his ear, and was standing half-turned to the perpetrator. Most of the acid fell on his ear, and the rest on the exposed areas of his skin."

After that, doctors transplanted to the damaged areas so-called "allofibroblasts" - in other words, cells of connective tissue which began to restore the burned skin.

After the first operation, surgeons repeated this twice, and for the final stage began an anti-scarring procedure with a special gel.

No vision

Thus, in just three weeks, doctors treating Sergei Filin in the Moscow burns centre GKB number 36, doctors managed almost completely to recover his burned face. However, at the time of his discharge he continued to remain virtually blind.

"Skin burns, even if they are very deep, are still treatable - at the extreme, one can resort to plastic surgery - but the vision has not come back."

The source went on to talk about the atmosphere now surrounding the balletmaster, and showed pictures taken while Filin was being treated.

"It is quite shameful that some lawyers are now trying to present it as if Sergei had hardly suffered - to allege not just that his face was not damaged, but also casting many doubts on the loss of sight. I hope that, whatever the final verdicts, those who claimed all this do not go unpunished."

"The maximum that can be imputed to the accused is a bodily injury of medium gravity," said Zhorin. "From the legal point of view serious bodily injury may occur if the victim is disfigured in the face or suffers complete loss of function of the eye. Neither one nor the other has occurred here, as far as I understand.

“Besides there are a number of documents signed by Filin after the attack. We intend to call expert opinion on whether the degree of loss of sight can be deduced from the handwriting - that is, did the man writing this lose his sight or not?"